The Brotherhood of Milk: True Happiness According To Ibn 'Arabi

Editor's Note: This author will be speaking at the Ibn 'Arabi & Rumi conference, Nov. 4 -5 in New York City.

"How many there are who walk upon the earth, and the earth curses them! How many there are who prostrate themselves upon her, and she rejects them! How many there are who invoke God, yet their words go no further than their lips, their thoughts no further than their mind. These people act for the sake of others, yet calculate what they themselves will get out of it. How many beloved friends of God are to be found in synagogues and churches! How many hated enemies of God are to be found doing their prayers and in mosques!"

Ibn 'Arabi (1165-1240), unquestionably one of the most profound and remarkable figures in the history of world spirituality, was unafraid of exposing hypocrisy and crossing traditional boundaries. His passion for what it means to be a "friend of God" is graphically expressed in his account of meeting Abraham in the seventh heaven in a spiritual ascension. In his monumental Futuhat al-Makkiyya,[1] Ibn 'Arabi describes the ascension in terms which are at once wryly amusing and deadly serious. We are presented with two kinds of travellers, both of whom are searching for knowledge of Truth: the one follows a prophet or messenger, responding to revelation with acceptance, and committing themselves heart and soul to Truth; the other is a speculative thinker, who takes reason as his yardstick and wants "to discover the path to knowledge of God by myself." While the speculative thinker thinks he needs to seek knowledge, using all the powers at his disposal, the follower strives only to make himself nothing before the Truth, like an empty vessel, empty of selfish individuality, ready to receive whatever is deposited in him, without laying claim to owning it. There are interesting comparisons to be made here with the modern divide between left and right brain typologies.

Not only are their methods different, says Ibn 'Arabi, but the fruits of their investigations are also different: "everything the speculative thinker acquires, the follower also acquires, but not vice versa." This is due to that special and intimate relationship to the Divine that each creature possesses, which Ibn 'Arabi calls the 'private face.' It is through this private face that he receives a knowledge which the speculative thinker cannot understand.

The two travel together on their journey of ascension, the follower carried through Divine Grace and the speculative thinker riding upon the steed of reflective thinking. They pass through the seven heavens, each of which has two aspects: a planet and a prophet who rules it -- for example, the second heaven of Mercury and Jesus, or the third heaven of Venus and Joseph. At each level the follower is treated with great honour by the prophet of that heaven and is initiated into secrets and mysteries, while the poor speculative thinker is left to his own devices and can only converse with the planet. In many cases even the planet abandons him, saying it is in the service of the prophet and has to attend to his guest. It is small wonder that the speculative thinker gets more and more depressed as the journey goes on.

By the time they reach the seventh heaven, where Abraham resides, the situation has become critical: the speculative thinker is installed "in a dark, deserted and desolate house," that grimly Saturnine mirror which is none other than the house of his own soul. That it appears dark and empty shows the ultimate fruitlessness of unaided reason, echoed in the Biblical cry of "vanity of vanities; all is vanity."[2] Here at the end of it all, there is no joy, no life.

In contrast, the follower is warmly welcomed by Abraham, who is resting his back against the 'Visited House' (al-bayt al-ma'mur). Just as the earthly Ka'ba (which was established by Abraham according to tradition) is surrounded by pilgrims in prayer, so this heavenly archetype (which is a cipher for the perfect human heart) is frequented by angelic presences, constantly coming and going, never returning, always fresh. The Abrahamic injunction to the follower is:

"Make your heart like this Visited House, by being present with God in every state. Know that of all that you see, nothing contains the Real God except the heart of the believer, and that is you!"

At this point in the story, the speculative thinker realises that he doesn't have a heart like his fellow-traveller -- he is missing out, his self-reality is a place of restriction precisely because his viewpoint is narrowly self-centred, and he tries to get closer to Abraham. Here an intriguing conversation takes place:

Abraham then asks the follower: "Who is this stranger with you?", and the follower replies: "He is my brother."
"Your milk-brother or your blood-brother?" Abraham asks.
"My water-brother", the follower replies.
"You are right," Abraham says, "that is why I do not recognise him. Do not keep company with anyone except your milk-brother, just I am your milk-father. The Presence of Infinite Beatitude only admits milk-brothers, milk-fathers and milk-mothers, for these are suitable in the sight of God. Do you not see that knowledge manifests as milk in the Presence of Imagination, and this is because of the suckling relationship?"

After this while the follower is invited into the Visited House and travels on until he reaches the Divine mystery, the poor speculative thinker is left to go back to the beginning on his own. In other words, there is no room at the level of the heart (represented by Abraham) for any clinging to self and all our intellectual edifices bar us from entering into true knowledge.

The three kinds of brotherhood (which he specifies includes both human genders) delineated by Ibn 'Arabi offer a profound picture of what it means to be human:

• Blood-brothers, the family of consanguinity, our fleshly and genetic inheritance with all its ties of close kinship; it is an exclusively tribal brotherhood, restricted to the physical family we belong to.
• Water-brothers, which refers here to the wider community of humankind, who share the water of life in this world, just as all things, including Adam and his children, are born of water. We are all in the image of human beings, but although apparently unlimited, this form of brotherhood and fraternité is equally exclusive, where because of our attitudes, beliefs and culture we create huge divisions and polarisations (happy/blessed or unhappy/damned, rich or poor, believer or disbeliever).
• Milk-brothers, suckled in infancy from the same source, so close in kinship that marriage between milk-relatives is expressly forbidden in many cultures. Here we are lovingly nourished by milk, which Ibn 'Arabi explains as the image of knowledge. There is no limit imposed, except in terms of the quantity of milk drunk.

According to Ibn 'Arabi, this is the only kind of brotherhood which Abraham recognises: a brotherhood of those who share in the knowledge of the Divine Unity, the fundamental origin of all things. Although intrinsically all human beings have the capacity for such knowledge, only some realise this, by concentrating on the most profound aspect of the self, the heart, rather than the head or the body. We can compare these levels to the three aspects of the human being: blood/body, water/soul, milk/spirit. If there are differences between us at the first two levels, the only distinction at the highest level is in how much milk we have drunk.

In our modern world where conflicts arise on the basis of ethnicity, where the politics of identity makes people increasingly strident in their self-definition, the idea of a milk-brotherhood, a brotherhood based on knowledge of Being, becomes highly topical. This "Milky Way" excludes no-one: it is open to all. It is self-selecting, in the sense that you can opt in or out. It celebrates the best aspects of being human. But knowledge here is not restricted to a simple attestation of Divine Unity and Ineffability. This is a realisation of the heart, a direct experiential knowledge gained through suckling at the breast of Love.

[1] Chapter 167, which dedicated to the spiritual knowledge of the alchemy of true happiness -- Fut.II.270ff.
[2] Ecclesiastes i 2

 

 

 

Comments

[Barbara DeZan]

02:26 PM on 10/25/2011

I'm a lifelong atheist. At 71, nothing has convinced me or turned my head another way.

However, that being said, all religious should be respected...all beliefs. It's only when one considers their beliefs to be the ONLY true one...and then go about attempting to force others to also believe their way..that trouble begins.

If a man finds peace in prayer...it's a wonderful thing. Peace is the ultimate goal for humanity...I think. What one does to be peaceful inside and out, is irrelevant. Whatever works, I say.

Having had the great honor, many years ago, to be in the company of these dervish, to observe for many hours, the beauty of it of their whirling, I can say this. It's beautiful. There is no doubting the devotion of these folks....nor their method of it.

Thanks for the video.

[bokhattak]

04:38 PM on 10/31/2011

I'm a lifelong spiritualist myself and a practitioner of Sufism for a decade. I have a lot of respect for what you've said and cannot agree more that peace is an outstanding goal.

I think that at the core of all of us - atheist, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, etc - there is a desire to be respected, loved and live in peace. Whether this common bond in all of us is divinely-instilled or something hardwired in our genetic code I cannot say and will not venture a guess. When life is respected, though, I believe we will all find more in common than different.

[Barbara DeZan]

07:47 PM on 10/31/2011

We are "herd" animals.... We look for comfort from our fellow humans and want to be part of that circle.

However, sometimes our mates can cause stress to us or cause dissention among the tribe. When that happens, I believe we look elsewhere for a little comfort.

Sometimes it's prayer, sometimes it's meditation, yoga or, like Mother Teresa, digging in and helping the unfortunate.

Whatever works......

Frankly, I'd rather see my fellows in prayer than screaming at each other.

[bkerensa]

08:35 PM on 10/23/2011

Notably Sufi'ism is essentially a cult of Islam and is highly not recognized by mainstream muslims.

[MilesToGo]

09:23 PM on 10/23/2011

Those of us who know of, study, and reflect on Sufism would certainly disagree with an accusation of it being a mere "cult." Members and leaders of a cult, by definition, believe in an exclusivity of the function of religious salvation, that is, those outside of the cult aren't religiously "saved." This is hardly the Sufic perspective, anywhere. Admittedly, there are some "mainstream" Muslims who hold the opinion you express. But then, there are "mainstream" Christians who claim likewise about some faithful believers who practice a faith perspective outside their own are also merely a "cult," such as the charges leveled by some against Roman Catholics.

[longtimegone]

03:03 AM on 10/24/2011

Your term "mainstream Muslims," is an imaginary one; I've known all kinds of Muslims but have never met this mainstream Muslim of whom you speak. It reminds me of the Silent Majority. You are asserting either that Sufism is without credibility because it is "highly not recognized by the Silent Majority, or that, though Sufism may sound fine and all, it is in no way connected to Islam because it is rejected by your "mainstream Muslim," and subsequently, we can continue to assert that Islam has no redeeming value. Either argument is weak. Orientalists and Wahhabis have worked, separately or in tandem, to try to pry Sufism and Islam apart, whether for reasons that are the same or different, I'm still undecided. But it is known by one and all that a body dies without a heart, so you draw your own conclusions.
When it was a reality without a name, while Muhammad lived and for a short time thereafter, it was the natural way of a community which shared one heart. As division and strife ensued, most lost sight of the center, so much so that those who clung to it were given a separate name. If those flown so far beyond the periphery cannot recognize them, it is small wonder. Those who cling to the self naturally breed strife.

[sandalwood]

10:53 AM on 10/24/2011

You might be interested in these two things...

1. In India, a few days ago a national Sufi organization has arisen, claiming to represent 80% of Indian Muslims, and has flatly challenged Deobandi and Wahabi Islam, and is warning Indian Muslims against them... http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2543620.ece

2. A very unlikely piece of religious writing had been briefly published in a Saudi newspaper (before it was yanked, and the author arrested)... if only such articles were to become the norm... article is worth a read: http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/189/0/5726.htm

"On September 5, 2011, Saudi columnist 'Abd Al-'Aziz 'Ali Al-Suweid published in the daily Al-Madina a highly controversial philosophical-theological article, which claimed that mankind must abandon the traditional and popular perception of the divine and adopt a "secular, universal, scientific, and humanistic" perception of this concept. He explained that the only way to gain knowledge of God is through scientific investigation of His "ways and laws," as they are reflected in the cosmos and in human nature. He added that the ways of God are open to endless interpretations, none of them more correct than any other, and that each individual is free to choose his beliefs and opinions according to his own understanding."

[Whistlejackett]

07:04 PM on 10/23/2011

The right hand is up and the left hand is down. There is a huge similarity in dances of all cultures, the hands, and the movement of ant-clockwise. How this happened I do not know, but I do know that most spiritual people in my life, dance. I do not mean modern dance, I mean organized, national dance. It is in the dance that one begins to open, a be free of physical restraint. Like an unblocking of oneself and open to the divine. There is even a letting go, as you twirl, there is a falling off of things not required. But let's not think too much, and dance.

Lovely article, my day is uplifted.

[Barbara DeZan]

02:30 PM on 10/25/2011

Everything is a circle. Nothing ever ends, it only changes.

From the vast universe to our life span...all circular.

[Tolerant]

12:16 PM on 10/23/2011

For advanced study of ibn Arabi and Rumi, I highly recommend the books written by William Chittick and Sheikh Kabir Helminski and his wife Shaykha Camilla Helminski.

I also recommend these audio discourses:

http://www.aliallawi.com/aud_HyderkhanaDiscourses.php

and

http://www.aliallawi.com/audios.php

Listen to the ones about ibn Arabi.

[Stephen Andre Olcott]

12:43 AM on 10/23/2011

Simply Sublime! The Heart of the Matter, for what is in the Heart is All that matters! or "The Love you make is equal to the Love you take" ~LenMac~ said it best.

[John Ramsey001]

12:42 AM on 10/23/2011

Light show, too.

[thankgodimanatheist8]

12:37 AM on 10/23/2011

As a speculative thinker, who takes reason as his yardstick and wants "to discover the path to knowledge of Ultimate Reality by myself," I do whatever it takes. So if it needs be "only to make himself nothing before the Truth, like an empty vessel, empty of selfish individuality, ready to receive whatever is deposited in him, without laying claim to owning it," so be it.

Actually in the words of the great Liverpudlian poet, John Lennon, "Whatever gets you through the night..."

Both reason and gnosis (first hand knowledge of the truth through meditation and so on) may get you in touch with the Ultimate Reality and may lead you astray.

[inonoatama]

12:18 AM on 10/23/2011

Insistence on the presence of unobservable, supernatural, omnipotent individuals. That sounds like a pretty good a definition of insanity.

[bokhattak]

04:48 PM on 10/31/2011

Certainty about the lack of a supernatural without doing the work to prove or disprove that sounds like a definition of a prejudice.

[inonoatama]

12:31 AM on 11/01/2011

I have expressed no "certainty" whatsoever about the lack of a supernatural. Just a high degree of confidence that no credible evidence whatsoever has ever been presented to support these fantasies.

[longtimegone]

07:50 PM on 10/22/2011

I came upon The Unlimited Mercifier a few years ago and found it to be breathtaking, mind boggling and the single most illuminating text on Ibn 'Arabi which I have ever found. For most of us, the spiritual depths of the Fusus al-Hikam or the Futuhat al-Makkiyya may be forever beyond our comprehension; I can think of no other writer of whom I would say this. A text such as The Unlimited Mercifier, therefore, is of more profound importance than any other kind of secondary text, and I found myself gasping as certain things which had always eluded me in trying to read Ibn 'Arabi himself suddenly seemed remarkably clear to me. There were passages of several pages in length which I read over and over, each time taking away a deeper understanding. It was the description of "the private face" in particular which most expanded both my heart and mind. The book was so transformative that I found myself wishing that I could personally thank the author; I am so glad to have the opportunity, in some sense at least, to do so now.

[researcher]

07:22 PM on 10/22/2011

song and dance can raise the vibration level.

the higher the vibration level the more bliss and joy.

each higher dimensions has a higher more rapid vibration level. light thing.

yes the thinker and the follower are two different aspects of the search.

the follower opens up to let the expressions of God or the gods flow through her.

the thinker gains knowledge but not understanding.

the follower has the understanding of the gods as it is the wisdom of the gods that flow through him.

see that was simple. :-)

[hazyafternoonsunshine]

07:14 PM on 10/22/2011

Beautiful.